Holly McCoy
by writingblondie
Summary: Mrs. Holly McCoy is an old kindergarten teacher that held a special place in both Hermione's and Harry's pasts. How do they know her? And what do James, Lily, and Severus have to do with anything? H/G Hr/R J/L


So here's the oneshot I was talking about! I know that it's not an update to Lily Lived but I'm really excited for this because I've had this idea for a while and I finally put it down on paper. I really hope that you enjoy this. It's been really fun to write. I just hope that I didn't confuse anyone in my excitement!

Thanks to Stephanie O for being a truly wonderful Beta, even when she's swamped :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Neither Snape or Severus would be dead if I did. Obviously.

Enjoy!

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January, 1985

She sat at her kitchen table and sipped her Earl Gray tea as she did every morning and began to think of her schedule that day. Her great granddaughter was coming at five in the evening for dinner, but that wasn't for a long time. The clock now read 6:15. She was quite aware of how early the time was, but she couldn't help herself. When she was younger, her job had gotten her into a pattern of early morning hours. As she was getting to the best part of her tea, the very bottom, an owl scratched her window.

_Why is it that he always comes during the best part?_ She thought to herself as she dragged herself out of her chair and grabbed a Knut from the counter. The woman gently took the _Daily Prophet _from the bird and dropped the galleon in his pouch. She sat back down to finish her tea and read the paper. _More about the new minister again._ At 6:23, just as she was flipping to the second page of her paper, the old phone behind her began to ring.

"Hello, McCoy residence. May I ask who is speaking?"

"Hey Holly, it's Gretchen. I'm sorry this is such short notice but I'm going into labor and I think I'm starting my maternity leave early. Do you think you could sub for me today? The permanent sub isn't available today. I know it's been a while but…"

"Oh, of course, dearie. I'd be glad to. It's just a morning kindergarten class, correct?"

"The same one you taught for fifty years, ma'am."

"School still starts at 7:30, yes?"

"Oh, yes it does. Thank you so much, Holly, I really do appreciate it."

"Good luck, Gretchen. Your father would be so proud. Don't forget that."

She knew that the young teacher and soon-to-be mother was smiling on the other side of the phone. "Good luck with the kids. They'll love you. But watch out for Dudley. He can be a handful."

"Don't worry, after fifty years I think I can handle anything at this point."

"Thanks so much!"

Holly McCoy smiled as she hung up. Today, she was going to teach children. Gretchen's father, whom Holly had grown up with, had passed away only a few months earlier. It saddened Holly to know that he'd never get to meet his grandchildren. She knew she was lucky to be able to make dinner for her own great granddaughter. Holly couldn't help but be thankful for her potion skills, as it helped her life expectancy of 114. She walked quickly to her bedroom to get ready, forgetting the _Daily Prophet_ on the table where she had been sitting.

HGHGHGH

Holly walked through the memorable doors of the grade school proudly. She'd loved her job as a muggle kindergarten teacher, but she was unfortunately too old at 94 according to muggle standards to continue teaching. She smiled, knowing that if she'd picked a different career in a different world, she'd still be working. But she'd take her life any day over those in the wizarding world. The excitement of young muggles learning things for the first time was so rewarding. The walls were covered with the drawings of young children, and lettering spelling "WELCOME" was stapled to the doors of each classroom. She was the first to arrive, because she wanted to familiarize herself with the class plan for the day as well as the names of the young children. As soon as she found the classroom she'd spent 50 years of her life in, she couldn't help but smile. The miniature desks were in perfect order and the library of children's books in the back of the room was even larger than it was when she left. Being as organized as she was, Gretchen has been leaving her lesson plans on her desk for the past month and a half in case she went into labor early. Luckily, Holly found that day's lesson plan neatly laid on the desk and began to change it just a tad. She realized at 7:25 that she'd spent far too much time on the lesson plan as students began to trickle in. She quickly wrote her name in chalk on the board and introduced herself individually to each of the students there, looking for the Dudley character that Gretchen had mentioned.

At 7:30 sharp, two boys walked through the door. One was much larger than the other and had an obvious complete authority in the relationship. The small boy behind him, she realized, had to be James Potter.

Trying to get over her shock, she greeted the fatter boy first, and found out that this was the Dudley that Gretchen had mentioned. Wincing, she let him find his way to his seat. Looking to the cowering boy behind him, she smiled. _He can't be James Potter._

"Hello, little one. My name is Mrs. McCoy. What's your name?"

"Harry Potter." He said quietly. Holly tried to hide the shock on her face, not sure what to say, as she led the boy to his seat, just as she did his father.

She began the lesson as she reminded herself to talk to the boy alone later.

GHGHGHGH

"Now that we've finished your quiz," she said as she collected the poorly drawn ABCs, "I think you've deserved some free time. You should know where everything is, and I'd like to see at least a few of you trying to read please." Holly smiled and watched as a sea of children made their way towards the craft section of the back room. "And when I say clean up, I mean it." Looking at the desks, she expected to see all of them empty. She was surprised when she realized that Harry Potter was still in his seat. For the first time, she noticed his baggy clothes and somewhat sad disposition. She made a bee-line for him, wanting to know more about him.

"So, Harry, tell me more about yourself." She said as she smiled warmly at him.

Harry looked up at her, shocked. "Well, um, Mrs. McCoy, my name is Harry."

Confused, she said, "Harry, what else should I know about you? How about you tell me something else besides your name."

"Um, I live with Dudley."

"That's interesting." She said, looking over at the larger boy who was currently attempting to shove glue up some child's nose. "Give me one minute, Harry."

Harry nodded at her and looked over to see what Dudley was doing now. After she'd put Dudley into the timeout chair, she returned to the lonely child in the middle of the room. "How are you related to Dudley?"

"He's my cousin." He said absentmindedly.

"Harry," she said softly with an excited voice, "can I tell you a secret?"

"Sure." Harry said, looking in her eyes for the first time.

"I knew your parents." She said with a large smile.

"Really?" Harry said, his green eyes beginning to sparkle.

"Yes. Did you know that you look almost exactly like your father?"

"Do I really?"

Smiling, she looked into the boy's eyes and said, "Yes, Harry, you do. But you have your mother's eyes." The radiant smile on her face made Harry chuckle.

"Thank you Mrs. McCoy."

"Oh, my pleasure, dearie. Now why don't you play with the other children?" She asked, noticing that this boy was nothing like either of his outgoing parents.

"No thank you. I'm fine here." He said as he pulled a book out from under his desk.

Realizing that her argument was futile, she politely asked, "What book is that, Harry?"

He smiled proudly. "It's _Ferdinand the Bull._"

"Really now? Is that your favorite book?"

"Yes."

"And why is that, Harry?"

"Because I'm Ferdinand!"

Confused now, Holly asked, "What makes you two so similar, Harry?"

"Well," Harry said, excited and opening the book up to specific pages for evidence, "see here. Ferdinand is all alone. Everyone else wants him to fight in the bull ring and he doesn't want to. So he picks flowers instead. I don't like fighting, Mrs. McCoy, and Dudley's like the Matador. He always tries to pick fights."

She smiled sadly at the boy. "You should be proud of that, Harry." Holly walked away from him, even though she didn't want to, because once again Dudley was beginning a fight – even from the timeout chair.

GHGHGHGH

"How was your day, Grandma?" Joseph Granger asked.

"Just lovely, Joe. One of the kindergarten teachers needed a sub and I got to go in and meet the kid of two of my former students. It really reminds you how old you are." She said with a smile.

"That's awesome. Thank you so much for watching Hermione tonight, by the way. Lori and I just really need a break." He said with a smile. "I mean, it's not that we don't love her it's just…"

"Sometimes you need a chance to catch your breath. Don't worry, I get it."

"Come on, Hermione. You're spending the night with Grandma Holly."

A young, bushy-haired child looked up at her. She silently raised her arms, and said "Up, please."

Grabbing her great-grandchild in her arms, she waved goodbye to her grandson and his wife. The two watched as their car drove off into the distance. "So, Hermione, what are we doing tonight?"

"Can we please have macaroni for dinner?" Hermione asked politely.

"Why, what else would I make for my little princess?" Holly said, putting the little girl down. Why don't you start setting the table and I'll finish up dinner? Does that sound like a plan?"

Hermione nodded her head up and down furiously as she squirmed out of Holly's arms and ran into the kitchen.

Following her, she helped the child grab the plates and the forks. She watched her run out the kitchen door carefully so that she wouldn't drop the plates. Holly strained the noodles and put the milk and the cheese in by hand, not how she usually cooked. Unfortunately, when she married a muggle, he didn't know of her skills. Not only that, but none of her magical abilities were passed on to her children so it didn't exactly matter anyway (although she had a serious suspicion that somehow her great-granddaughter had magical capabilities). What they didn't know couldn't hurt them. But now that her husband was gone, she couldn't help but use her magic to help her in living alone in her old age.

"Um, Grandma Holly?" Hermione said from the other room as she carried the pot of finished macaroni to the dining room.

"What is it dear?"

"Why is there a moving newspaper on your table?"

Holly could have hit herself. How could she be so clumsy after 72 years of being so careful? She gently placed the macaroni down onto the table, glad that she hadn't dropped it in her surprise. Holly knew that Hermione was already a smart child and there was no easy way to answer her. "Well, sweetie, Grandma has a special newspaper that comes to her every morning that no one else gets. It's so fancy that the pictures move. But, it's our little secret, okay? " She said as she gently removed the paper from Hermione's curious hands. Luckily, the girl was taking the hint, but she knew she would hear about this later.

GHGHGHGHG

"What story do you want me to read to you tonight, Hermione?" Holly asked to the young child, who was tucked into bed safely and securely.

"I don't want to read a book today, Grandma."

"Really now?" Holly said, quite shocked at her ever-curious great grandchild.

"Yes. I'd like it if you told me a story that you wrote grandma.

"Well…"

"Please?" Hermione said, looking up to Holly with beautiful pleading brown eyes.

"Oh, alright. But, you have to go to sleep right away. The child nodded her head furiously.

"Once upon a time, a very dark time, there were three wizards. One's name was James, another Lily, and the last Severus. Severus and James hated each other, but they were both deeply in love with Lily but Lily was only friends with both. Eventually, there came a time when Lily fell in love with James and stopped being friends with Severus because he was being very mean to her. Because of this, her friendship with Severus was ruined forever."

"No!" Hermione said.

"Oh yes. She regretted it very much, especially when a she found out that a few years later, Severus was joining a very, very evil man whose name was so feared that no one even wanted to say it out loud. For some reason that bad man desperately wanted to kill Lily and James' first born child."

"But that's so mean!"

"I told you he was a bad man, Hermione. Because they knew that the bad man wanted their son, they were able to go into hiding. Unfortunately, one of James' best friends, one so close that he knew where James and Lily were hiding, told the bad man where they were. So then, on Halloween night, the bad man showed up on James and Lily's doorstep."

"That's horrible!" Hermione said, her covers balled up into her tiny hands.

"James, who was known for his fighting abilities, tried to fight him desperately because he wanted to save his family, but he couldn't stop him. He killed James and ran up the stairs to the nursery, where Lily was hiding with their baby. But, little one, the only thing the wizards knew from that encounter is that the boy not only survived, but also was left with a lightning bolt on his head. And the bad wizard was dead."

"So Lily killed him?"

"No sweetie, she was dead. She couldn't have killed him. Somehow, the baby had to have done it. Forevermore, he was known as 'The Boy Who Lived'"."

"Wow."

"Now sleep tight, Hermione." Holly said as she got up and turned off the lights. She smiled to herself as she whispered under her breath, "And maybe you'll know him one day, my little Muggleborn."

_HGHGHGHGHGHG_

_August, 1965_

_Holly McCoy was going to be teaching her 40__th__ year of kindergarten this year. Her husband Rick had surprised her with breakfast in bed for the first day of school, and her colleagues held a doughnut party in the teachers lounge. Today, though, was special for another reason. Her old friend Charles Potter wanted his son to learn how to act around muggles, and therefore, was sending him to Kindergarten. Charles had decided that it would be easier teaching his son how to blend in if he was learning basic skills with muggle children themselves. Maybe, he thought, he would even get some friends. And so, Holly McCoy, a muggle-lover herself, gladly accepted James into her class. That first day, James' scrawny small body entered, very obviously scared of what was to come. She rushed over to him, comforting him and led him to his seat. Within the first few hours, he'd made friends with a young redhead. Lily Evans, the daughter of another teacher in the grade school, Rose Evans, then befriended a smaller boy, another wizard, Severus Snape. As the year went on, James made more friends, but Severus and Lily had gotten closer and closer. At the end of the year, James started a fight with Severus in the classroom after all the other students had left for the summer. Lily had gotten so mad that a sudden burst of magic separated the two squabbling five year olds. Shocked and unsure of what to do, Holly grabbed the wand from her desk and placed a memory charm on the three. Each of them forgetting their friendships made there, and one of them forgetting their ability to do magic. It would help her in life, Holly justified, because this way other children who didn't understand her capabilities wouldn't torture her. Magic at such a young age was not a good thing._

GHGHGHGHGHG

August, 2007

"Ron, I want them to go to Kindergarten. I want them to experience the muggle world so that they aren't ignorant."

"They couldn't be ignorant with you as a mother, Mione."

Hermione glared at her husband and shot a fleeting glance at Harry to step in. "Mate, our kids are going to Kindergarten. In fact, we just dropped James off for his first day." Harry said, holding Ginny's hand. The young couple stopped at their best friends' house to pick up their children. They had dropped them off with Hermione earlier so that they could be alone with James on his first day of school. Ron, an Auror with Harry, had been on a mission the night before and had just come home to his wife bringing up the idea of Kindergarten for his children.

"Look, how about we talk about this tomorrow? I'm dead tired." Ron said, kissing his wife and waving his sister and brother-in-law goodbye as he headed for the stairs.

"Harry, I'm going to go gather the kids together. How many bottles did Lily go through, Hermione?"

"One and a half in only two hours. That girl has quite the appetite." Hermione said with a smile.

"Believe me, I know." Ginny said, wincing. "Anyway, I'm assuming that they're in the living room?"

"You would be assuming correctly. Go for it."

"Thanks."

Harry winked at his wife as she left the room. "Harry, why do you think Ron doesn't want the kids to go to Kindergarten? I mean, I can't take every day off of work. My maternity leave is ending soon. It would lift the burden off of Molly as well. I know she loves having grandchildren, but I don't think she wants to raise them."

"That's exactly what we were thinking, Hermione." Harry said as he leaned back against the white wall of their entrance hallway. "And I loved Kindergarten."

"So did I. My great grandma was a Kindergarten teacher in Surrey so I really believe in the system." Hermione said with a sad smile, she really missed her great grandma.

"Really? Which school?"

"Surrey Hills Elementary*."

"No way, really? That's where I went. What was her name?" Harry said in excitement.

"Holly McCoy."

Harry flashed a bright smile. "She substituted for our class one day. She was the nicest teacher I've ever had. She was the first one to tell me that I looked like my father but had my mother's eyes."

Hermione looked at him, puzzled. "Really?"

"Ya, she told me that she'd taught them before."

"That's weird. Now that I'm thinking about her, I think she used to tell me your story before bed. She always avoided your name though. So many details that I know now were left out so I don't think I ever connected the dots." Hermione said as Ginny walked into the room, Lily on her right hip and Albus connected to her left hand.

"Hermione not connecting the dots? Is that even possible?"

"Shut up, Gin." Hermione said with a giggle. "In all seriousness though, how do you think she knew your story?"

"Well, either she was a squib, a witch, or someone told her about my parents which I highly doubt."

"Oh my gosh, the first time she ever told me that story I'd found a moving newspaper on the kitchen table!" Hermione said, remembering a day of her childhood.

"Wow, so does this mean that we know Hermione's witch ancestor? This is crazy. I don't think a muggleborn has ever had that privilege. That's awesome, Hermione." Ginny said, happy for her friend.

"I can't believe she was a witch!"

"Well," Harry said, "you learn something new every day, right?"

"I guess so. I wonder if that story about two brothers and a broken nose had anything to do with Dumbledore."

Harry and Ginny looked at each other in amazement. "Wow. You've got to be kidding me." Harry said with a grin. "This whole time, Hermione was raised listening to wizard stories, and she still was completely clueless when she came to Hogwarts."

Hermione made a sour face. "Well, I'm sorry, I never connected my Grandmother's strange imagination with her being a witch!"

*I google searched elementary schools in Surrey and found this name. I selected a random elementary school so I apologize if it's the wrong district or something like that. But it is an actual elementary school in Surrey.

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I hope you guys liked it! Please review! It has a tendency to make my day :D


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